Kenenisa claims 4th win by beating American 1500m world champion

IAAF Golden League Paris 2009

PARIS - Kenenisa Bekele judged his head to head confrontation over 3000m with Bernard Lagat to perfection. The fourth lap of 59.7sec did the damage and destroyed the hopes of his American rival, allowing the Ethiopian to then gradually widen his advantage on the notoriously quick-finishing World 1500m and 5000m champion. With these tactics the Ethiopian, who holds the 5000m and 10,000m Olympic crowns and possesses a mean sprint of his own, never allowed Lagat to position himself for any attack.

With a mist of rain already in the stadium air Bekele hit the bell (6:29) with holding a good 20 metres or more advantage on his principal opponent and brought the race home in 7:28.64. Lagat had given the challenge everything he had, finishing in a personal best of 7:33.15. France’s Mourad Amdouni was third in a European season’s lead of 7:37.50.

"Conditions were difficult. It was very windy. It was difficult also for all the others, but when you are in front it's even more difficult," said Bekele.

With Lagat in the field, it was no surprise that Bekele wanted the pace to be extremely hot. The wind was as high as 20mpw at times on Friday in Paris. However, it was essential for Bekele that the pace be hot.

The race certainly lived up to the hype, but in the end, Kenenisa Bekele proved his greatness by getting the win over Lagat.

"It's my last race before the World Championships. I'm going back to Ethiopia to train," he added.

The other three contenders for the $1 million jackpot --Jamaica's Kerron Stewart (100m), American Sanya Richards (400m) and Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva (Pole Vault) -- all maintained their 100 percent records with relative ease.